


Work It Out

by SilhouetteofScribe



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Fitness Pals, exercise, sweating
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-16
Packaged: 2018-03-29 10:36:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3893221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilhouetteofScribe/pseuds/SilhouetteofScribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Katara's post hero days and weeks of admirers sending sweets takes its toll, she finds the perfect fitness buddy in Zuko.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Gonna Make You Sweat

Katara squeezed her tummy, feeling the pudge in her hands. It was definitely bigger now. Yesterday she hadn't been able to grab as much, but now she felt like her hands were full of fat. She took in a breath and pulled in her gut as much as she could. It wasn't much different. A wad of flab spilled into her palms no matter what she did. She frowned and pulled her shirt down. In the weeks that had passed since the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Azula, Katara hadn't been as active as she had been since joining Team Avatar. Now as the three bowls of Seal Blubber Stew roiled in her stomach, she began questioning her lifestyle. Being a hero of the nation was a sweet life, and Katara had never been as spoiled as she was as now. She had never known there were so many types of chocolates and confections in the world, but now found something new on her doorstep every morning, along with letters from shy admirers. She knew it was probably a bad idea to try each one that came to her door, but chocolate was delicious and she wasn’t made of stone.

After the third week of constant gift baskets, Katara was starting to feel the consequences. She was more sluggish, her toes were just a little harder to see, and every meal tasted like chocolate. Today she had taken all of her baskets to her brother, who merrily split them with Suki. Katara had left before they fed each other too many bon bons and passed them to each other between kisses and hurried out of hearing before the chocolates took effect. Now she was gasping on the street, trying to catch her breath after her short sprint. She pulled her shirt forward, fanning her chest by pumping the fabric like bellows. It was a hot day in the Fire Nation capitol and the noon sun was beating down like hellfire. Just the brief exertion had left her covered in sweat. She waterbended the moisture from her body and smacked her lips. A chocolate malt would be good right about now.

She was three seconds from seeking out a cafe when she saw the jogger. He was clad only in a pair of red shorts and a golden band around his forehead, and his hair danced in the breeze with his every step. He had already built up a heavy sweat and his body glistened like polished brass. Every muscle was radiating. He was a sculpted vision. Katara couldn’t take her eyes off of him. So he turned and gave a stupid grin. Zuko waved amiably. “Hi Katara!” Katara grinned. He was a dork. 

Zuko’s eyes went tactlessly down to Katara’s midsection. She tried not to throw her arms over her belly. But when he only smiled, she relaxed. “Hey! Don’t let me stop you!”

Zuko jogged in place for the moment. “No big deal,” he said lightly. “I was just finishing up. Plus I haven’t seen you in a long time!” He wiped the sweat from his brow and tried to fan away the rest. He only blushed a little when he said, “I’d give you a proper hello, but . . .” He gestured a sweep of his arms down his soaked clothing, blushing like it wasn't the hugest turn on.

Katara didn’t hesitate to rush into his arms. His hard body meshed against hers like a slab of meat. It was sticky and hot. Katara resisted the urge to slide her hands down the muscles of his back. He smelled amazing, like how the Water Tribe army had smelled after training. Katara suddenly felt enormous. How could she let herself get so disgusting? He was probably ready to run at this point.

She pushed the idea out of her head. He was still smiling, and hadn’t gone anywhere. She kept her hand over her stomach as she chatted. “Getting ready for an Agni Kai?”

Zuko gave a small shrug. “Nothing like that. Everything’s been pretty quiet since Aang took care of my father,” he said. “This is just to keep me active.”

“Do you run every day?” Katara asked. God, he looked good. He used to be fit and strong before, but now he was ripped. Katara flashed back to all of their fights. What she wouldn’t give for an Agni Kai right now.

“Katara?” he asked.

“I’m sorry,” Katara said, shaking her head. “Do you run every day?”

Zuko gave a warm smile. “Just about,” he repeated for her. “I didn’t get a chance yesterday, so I’m going for a second mile.”

Katara’s face felt hot. She tried to stay aware of how much she was smiling. But her mind wouldn’t stop wandering. The word 'stamina' flashed in her head.

“Want to join me?” he asked. “I could use some company. I’ll stay at your pace.”

Katara fidgeted. “I don’t know...” she said, thinking of three weeks worth of chocolates. “I’d slow you down too much.”

Zuko smiled. “If I have a waterbender misting me down when things get too hot, I’d gladly let her slow me down as much as she wants.”

Katara was certain her heart had stopped beating for three whole seconds then. She bit her lip and turned away from him. All she needed at this moment was images of him in a shower. So she took her time to compose herself and pretended to be looking for a current of cool moisture, then condensed that into an orb of frosty water. She then turned back to Zuko. “Okay!” she squeaked. “I’m game for it, if you are!”

Running with Zuko was difficult, but well worth the reward. He wasn’t going too fast and it didn’t feel like he was going easy on her, it was just about pushing on. Katara was fine with that, it had just been a while since she last had to exert herself for a prolonged amount of time. So long as she kept moving, everything was okay. And now being able to turn aside and see his long dark hair cascading over his face, his bulging muscles flex and jiggle on his every step, Katara wouldn’t stop for anything.

Zuko running was like seeing marble dancing. He was a vision. The way the sun enhanced his physique was hypnotic. She could go blind staring. And the faster he ran, the more his muscles pumped, the more sweat fell from his body. She could see each droplet falling and could flit it through the air to land on her. The more she floated mist to cloud in front of him, the more drippings she covered herself with. She could smell him with every breath. He was saturating her clothes. It was driving her wild. It wasn’t until he begged her to slow down that Katara realized they had been running all out. She was panting and covered head to toe in sweat. Their clothes were heavy with sweat and mist. And as he turned aside to catch his breath, Katara realized how tight it had made his pants.

She could see everything.

Katara turned away. But when he paced about catching his breath, unfocused and distracted, Katara realized she was free to stare as long as she wanted. When he jogged in place to loosen up his joints, Katara could see it jiggling. Her face felt hotter than before, so she waterbended the water from both of their clothes and turned away, stifling her nervous laughter.

The cool wind was slowly soothing their weary bodies, but did little to kill the fires in Katara’s gut. She took a deep breath and cleared her mind. “That’s probably enough exercise for one day,” she blurted. “For me anyway!”

“Probably,” Zuko mused. “It’s best if you don’t push yourself too hard. I’ve been working out for a few years now. Maybe I can help you figure out a plan for yourself.”

“Yes.” Her agreement was out of her mouth before she even weighed the offer. Was Zuko implying she was fat? But if it meant more sweaty fun, he could call her anything. “Yes,” she said slower this time. “I’ve been meaning to start a program. I could really use your help.”

Zuko smiled. “All right then. Let’s meet here tomorrow morning. It’ll be cooler then.”

“Sounds good,” Katara said. “Can’t wait!” She fanned her face, hoping it would kill the blush she could feel burning her cheeks. Her second greatest desire at that moment was to run far away. She tried not to think too much about what she’d rather have done. So she made a few more polite exchanges with Zuko, promising to return and get sweatier with him next time, then backed away and finally broke out into the grin she had been holding back since he first jogged past. She couldn’t wait to get home and lock herself in her room.


	2. Arm Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An injury changes up the routine, and a line is crossed.

Katara stepped onto the scale and slid the weights to the side, the heaviest one first. She knew her last weight was around 210, so she threw the big one until it clunked into place at the 200 mark, then reached to put the smaller weight to balance until she had an accurate reading. Instead, the entire reader thudded down. Katara smiled. She was under 200.

She threw the big weight into a lower slot. Then moved the smaller one until the bobbing stopped and the arrow came to balance at the black line. She checked the marks, adding them both together. 150 and 46. Katara was only 196 pounds now. Her time with Zuko was starting to pay off. If she kept it up, she’d be back to her old weight in no time.

But god damn if those chocolates weren’t fucking awesome, Katara thought smelling a hollow chocolate mold before throwing it out. She wanted to eat each one that came to her door. She wanted to waterbend all of the chocolate in the Fire Nation into her bloodstream. But instead, she gave most of it to Sokka. At the end of some days, she would find him lying down on Appa’s forehead, his gut open to the sunlight, breathing heavily and going into a sugar-induced coma. Suki had begged her not to bring Sokka any more candy, but Sokka had demanded more each day. Katara had laughed until he pulled out the meteor sword. It was really damn good chocolate.

Katara felt energized and bounced on her heels. Two weeks of jogging with Zuko had done wonders for her stamina. She felt strong again, like she didn’t want to spend all day on the couch directing Momo to fly bon bons into her mouth. She couldn’t wait to see Zuko again. And as she looked at her naked body in the mirror, Katara couldn’t help but imagine how Zuko would react when she told him about the weight loss. If he could see her body now.

She leaned forward, pushing her cleavage tighter. Her body was looking a lot better. And whether it was jogging every day with him and sweating long hours together, or if it was the furious masturbating she did afterwords, Katara didn’t know. Her stomach was flatter, her stamina was way up, and she was always so eager for more. She couldn’t wait to get back to it with Zuko. She rocked on the balls of her feet, stretching forward and then wove her fingers to lock together. She pushed these up behind her back and felt her back muscles tighten. Katara pushed out her chest, appraising her curves and taking in multiple angles for the best look. It was a slight change, maybe invisible to anyone but the closest observer, but Katara felt like a new woman. 

She fumbled around on the counter, pushing aside various cylinders and other containers until she found a subtle color of gloss and opened it to twist the makeup high enough to smudge over her lips. It was a light shade of pink, only a little darker than her own lips. But it would be just enough to warrant another turn of the head from anyone with eyes. She blotted, then began to apply more makeup, just hints here and there. She shaped her eyelashes just a tad, made her cheekbones pop a little more, then tied her hair up in one long ponytail. In this, she dropped a single bead of perfume, so every time she shook her hair the scent of vanilla and orchids would fill the room. It’d be slight, too slight for Zuko to notice. But it might stir the right ideas in his head.

Trying not to dwell on visions of what those ideas might be, Katara pulled her pants up to her waist and tied the band fast, then reached for her top. In a few minutes, she was standing outside the Fire Nation transit center waiting for Zuko. He was always a minute or two late, which had always impressed her with all of his duties as Fire Lord. Though he was always busy, he had never missed a date with her. Today was the first time two minutes had passed without her seeing him in the distance. Katara searched the horizon for him, fighting the voice in her head telling her he had come to his senses and stood her up. What could be keeping him? Katara wondered.

It was another three minutes without a sign that she got her answer. A palanquin came up the road, carried by four attendants. She recognized their garbs, these were Zuko’s men. It had to be him inside, she realized. But Zuko was never one to use anything as obnoxious as this. When it came to a rest on the ground and no one came out, Katara’s heart sank. The explanation couldn’t be good. Maybe it was empty, he could have sent it to bring her to the court because he was too busy. Or was he not going to step out? Maybe he was sick. But an attendant stepped to the side and opened the door for Zuko, then reached a hand inside. The young Fire Lord stepped out and held the shoulder of his servant. He leaned on it, favoring one leg and hopping closer. He looked up to Katara with a bit of a shy smile.

“Zuko!” Katara exclaimed, rushing forward and looking over the discolored heel. It was swollen and the bruise was darker than she would have liked to have seen. It could even be broken. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” Zuko said. He lifted his pant leg to his calf to show Katara the injury. “I had a little trouble with my sister earlier.” She immediately set to work with her healing waters. “It’s a long story,” Zuko continued uncomfortably. “I thought she could help, Aang tried to reason with her, Azula was Azula, things got out of hand... you can read all about it in the comic.”

“Don’t joke,” Katara scolded him. His injury was more severe than he knew. And this was a time for action, not breaking the fourth wall. She was already soothing the strained ligaments and trying to reset the joint as it had been before. It was a dislocation, but a violent one. It looked like his foot had nearly come fully off. “It looks like you’re lucky to have a foot left. What are you doing here? You should be home, resting!”

Zuko laughed. “Nonsense,” Zuko said dryly. “Why rest at home with my medical staff when I have the world’s best healer right here? Come on, Katara. Let’s slip a period appropriate Band-Aid on that and get back to our routine.”

“You’re going to jog on this? Are you insane, Zuko?”

“Of course not,” Zuko replied humorlessly. “No, that’d kill me.” He softened his voice again and smiled. “It’s arm day.”

***

“Okay,” Zuko said, sitting on the bench in the fitness room. He gestured at the free weights on the rack. “Find the right weight for you and we’ll work with those first.” The weights in the Fire Nation palace were polished bright and smelled brand new. She doubted that even Ozai had used these. Maybe they were just Zuko’s. Katara ran her fingers over the cold steel. She lifted the first set in her hands - 15 pounds. These were light enough to juggle with. Katara thought she should put them down before Toph saw her with something so meager. Toph would probably metalbend them into a ball and throw it into space if anyone gave her them. These were too light for anyone, Katara mused. She moved up. The 20s and 25s were better, but nothing challenging. Maybe if she hadn’t spent the past year on adventures and battling every day for her life. She finally grabbed the 40s and did a slow curl. The resistance felt right. It was difficult to lift, but didn’t tire her out too quickly. Zuko nodded in approval. “Great, let’s get to work.” He grabbed the 25s and gestured for her to sit beside him.

Katara took a seat beside Zuko. He was stripped down to a tank top and the loose shorts again. His hair was tied back out of the way. He had no shoes on and his injured foot was still slightly discolored. Katara shook her hair a little, then waited for his instruction.

Zuko led her in bicep curls, then shoulder flies, then shrugs, and on to other exercises. After Katara’s arms began to burn, he stopped for a rest. Zuko put down his weights and picked up a bottle, covered in beads of condensation. He offered it to her. “Here, let’s rest before the next set.”

Katara took the water bottle and drank. It was cold and crisp, like it had come straight from the glaciers. She dragged it over her forehead and neck, letting the droplets cover her body with cool dew. “How’s your leg feeling?”

“It’s better,” Zuko said. “I doubt I’ll be going far without help for a while, but I’m not fighting the urge to scream anymore. By tomorrow I might not even be biting my tongue anymore.”

Katara grabbed his calf and tested the muscle. She swept her fingers over his leg, getting closer to his heel. “Does that hurt?”

Zuko kept a stone face. He looked into Katara’s eyes. “Tremendously.”

“Let me try something,” Katara said. She poured the ice water down his shin and began channeling her healing into the water.

“Is this supposed to help?” Zuko asked. “Because it’s so cold I’ve lost all feeling in my leg.”

“Oh stop complaining,” Katara directed him. “Just bite your tongue again.”

“I should brace myself, shouldn’t I?” The dread in Zuko’s voice was adorable. Katara tried not to show her smile in his direction.

Katara wrenched the heel to stretch forward. The bone popped into place and set in better alignment this time. Zuko’s good eye narrowed slightly. “Might be a good idea,” Katara advised.

“Remind me why I stopped trying to kill you,” Zuko groaned. It was probably painful as hell, but at least the bruising was finally going away this time. She healed it back to its normal color.

“The way I remember it,” Katara mused, finger on her chin, “we went on a life changing field trip together, you watched me nearly kill a guy, we shared a tent for a night, then you treated me like a princess ever since.”

“That’s the abridged version,” Zuko admitted.

“Well, don’t tell me what you did when you finally got your own tent later,” Katara teased, grabbing the weights again. She turned away from his blush and started another set of curls, then shook her hair again.

After the next two sets and another muscle group, they put the free weights down. Zuko got a drink, then gestured for Katara to help him. She came to his side and he stood slowly. He tested his weight on the heel, then stopped. It looked like he wasn’t ready to stand on his own yet. So Katara let him wrap his arm around her and she led him further. They finally came to the bench with a large bar propped up over it. There were a few weights already on it, probably set up for Zuko. She decided not to change them.

He whipped off his shirt and laid it on the bench. “This is where we do chest presses,” Zuko instructed. Immediately the image of crushing her breasts against Zuko’s pectorals flashed in her mind. Instead, Katara said, “Oh.” She hoped it sounded only mildly interested.

Zuko laid back and shimmied up to line his arms up with the bar. “I’m going to go first, so all you have to do is spot me.”

“Spot you?” Katara asked.

Zuko rephrased: “If I’m having troubles, help me get it up.”

“Oh.”

Katara watched Zuko push the bar up off of the rack and over his chest, then lower it down slowly. He let out a slow breath and pushed it back up. She watched his slick muscles bulging. This was definitely going into the memory vaults for later. The arms straightened, pushing their sinew as contracted and as firm as they would go, straining tight against Zuko’s tan skin, making each tumescent vein jut prominently over his biceps and chest muscles. She watched his sweat run down his arms and pool between his pectorals, then overflow and stream down his stomach on each push. “One, two, three...” he counted aloud. “Four... five...”

Katara stepped closer. She reached out her arms, ready when he needed her. “Six,” she said with him. “Seven.” He was leaking a consistent mist of sweat now. The air was thick with his scent. It was more dizzying than when he ran. And the spectacle... She was at his feet, gazing up his entire body, from his nearly healed feet, to his sculpted calves, to his barely obscured thighs and groin, to his polished abs, magnificent pecs and luscious biceps, to his determined expression and that sexy scar. Katara stepped in again, reaching to lift the bar with him. It was slowing, so she put her fingers underneath it, meeting his hands with her nails. “Eight,” she breathed with him. “Nine.”

Zuko looked down. Katara kept eye contact with him. He looked back up to her eyes, then pushed again. Slower, deliberate. Katara nustled in a little closer, feeling her thighs pass around his shorts. Zuko held his breath until he reached the top, extending his arms fully, his hands lifting the bar together with hers. They came to the highest point together, then breathed out as one. Their eyes still interlocked, Zuko lowered down. He brought the barbell to his chest. Katara lowered with it, letting it move with her hands below it until it reached his chest. She sank lower with her entire body, resting her hips and butt down as well until she came down on his shorts. She straddled him only for a second, just long enough to kiss his erection with her butt, then they pushed up again together.

“Ten,” Katara whispered for Zuko. His eyes went to her pelvis, watching as she lowered down with him. Zuko brought the bar down. She came down with it. Katara sat on his bulge for another instant, then Zuko pushed up again. Katara stood. The set finished, Zuko put the bar back in place. Katara gazed down on him. They stared at each other for a moment, Zuko sweaty and panting from exertion, Katara just as disheveled but for another reason. Finally Katara lowered down on him, leaning forward to lower her hand over his chest.

“Here,” she said in a low murmur. She barely touched him with her fingertips, and with slow strokes up his pectorals, gathered the beads of sweat from his chest and accumulated them into her palm. “Let me get that cleaned up.” His body dried now, she took the sweat and wiped it over her top. It was plenty of water. She could feel the shirt clinging to her body. Zuko’s gaze on her chest let her know it did exactly what she had wanted it to.

She leaned in, dropping her chest to meet his, pushing her wet breasts onto his bare skin. Katara’s breath was strained, fluttering gasps. She shifted between holding her breath and letting it out in a cautious sputter. Every inch closer to Zuko, she dared to breathe a little less. She was nearly face to face with him now, joined at their bodies from crotch to chin. “Zuko...” she breathed.

Zuko sat up. Katara gasped. She sat further away on the bench. Zuko turned away and covered his shorts with both hands. He gasped, fighting to catch his breath. Katara bit her lip. She was almost there.

Zuko held his breath for a second more, then now more composed, turned to face her. “I’m sorry,” he said. “We shouldn’t...”

Katara nodded. “I was... this was my fault. I’m sorry.”

Zuko spoke over her for a moment as they quickly both took responsibility for what was clearly a mistake and totally over the line, and they apologized simultaneously. Then they both immediately stopped talking. They were still gazing into each other’s eyes. That intense lock was still there.

Zuko swallowed. His hand poked out. It slid on the bench. Katara moved her arm out too. They touched fingertips. She stared at her hand as it slid out and under Zuko’s, then wrapped together in Zuko’s hand. They held each other’s hand for a moment. Katara felt her heart skip a beat, then pulse harder than ever before. Her cheeks were hot and wet with happiness and sweat. She finally lifted her face and gave her guilty smile to Zuko. Neither one was sure. Katara had never been more nervous in her life. There was so much happening she couldn’t explain. But the urge to close the distance again was strong. Katara searched Zuko’s eyes for the answer.

Then she stood up.

“I should go,” Katara said. Zuko didn’t reply. They remained in an awkward silence for another few moments. “I...”  
“Yeah,” said Zuko. He nodded and licked his lips. “Maybe.”

Katara grabbed her stuff. She was out the door and back on the streets in a minute. Then she was back in her own bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering what the hell had just happened. After most days with Zuko, she couldn’t wait to get home and start fantasizing. But today all she could do was stare at the ceiling and think about what almost happened.

When no answer gave her closure, she came to the only conclusion that made sense.

She blew it.


End file.
